“The garden aims to show visitors how important all insects are, not just the popular and well-known bees and butterflies, but other less beloved and publicised species too.” - RHS
→ Looking for an article focused on bees only? Check out our bee gardening guide!
In an organic garden, beneficial insects play a huge role. They perform a plethora of ecosystem services, from pollination to pest management, and even support nutrient cycling within the garden.
A wide range of beneficial insects is a great sign that you have created a healthy and diverse ecosystem.
It’s important to remember that in order to attract these helpful friends into your garden, they will need to have something to eat. While it can be tempting to want to fully eradicate pests, allowing a few to remain in your garden will bring in the types of bugs that will help you out with pest control.
An organic garden will attract more beneficial insects, as synthetic pesticides can harm both the pests and the good bugs. In my research, the most common thread between all of these beneficial insects was their sensitivity to synthetic pesticides and herbicides.
Instead of turning to pesticides when you see an unwanted insect in your garden, zoom out and look at the ecology that you create in your yard. Turn to regenerative practices and support the environment to add visual diversity and insect diversity into your garden.
When beneficial insects find a habitat where they can thrive, your need for pesticides will decrease. Combine that with other natural pest control methods, and your garden will have abundant harvests without the need for toxins.
Here’s a look at the beneficial insects that you may find in your garden. If you spot one of them, know that they are supporting your gardening efforts - maybe tell them thank you for all of their hard work!
Bees aren’t the only insect that pollinates - many other beneficial insects offer this ecosystem service as well. Wasps, flies, butterflies and beetles all support the effort of the bees to pollinate a variety of flowers (Xerces).
Pollination is essential for both the genetic diversity of plants and for a gardener’s successful harvest. If you want squashes, cucumbers, or fruit to grow in your garden, you’ll need to have a good supply of pollinators around to help you out.
Pollination also means that plants can go on to produce seed. This seed will grow into new flowering plants, and offer the next generation of pollinators something to eat.
Beneficial insects can help a garden to thrive through their choice in diet. Unlike garden pests, beneficial insects don’t cause any harm to your garden. Instead, they feast on garden pests and create a sense of balance in your backyard ecosystem.
There is a bit of a catch-22 with the predation of beneficial insects. While these insects will eat pests, they will also be negatively impacted by pesticides. In order to bring in hungry beneficials, you first need to have an organic garden free from synthetic chemicals.
At the same time, you are less likely to need to turn to pesticides - even natural homemade concoctions - when you have a plethora of beneficials defending your garden.
When you plant a pollinator patch in your garden, you're likely to start to see an increase of all beneficial insects. Plant diversity isn't just for the bees!
What inspired me to write this article was how so many of the plants that are recommended for bee gardening also support other beneficial insects.
Some of the insects listed below feed on nectar and pollen during certain life stages, so they share many of the same food sources as bees.
Other beneficial insects will eat garden pests that may be attracted to the diverse landscape that you’ve created for the bees. In both instances, a bee garden provides a food source and habitat for these helpful critters.
It turns out that gardening for bees and gardening for beneficial insects are very parallel to each other.
Regenerative gardening offers so many positive components to your backyard that will bring in beneficial insects to help your garden thrive.
Here’s how regenerative principles can attract all beneficial insects:
eats: aphids
attract with: flowers with nectar and pollen, dandelions, wild carrot
If you notice an aphid midge in your garden, you’re in luck: these insects have a big appetite for aphids, hence their name. According to Cornell University, Aphidoletes feast on more than 60 kinds of aphids. One single aphid midge larva can eat up to 80 aphids. Aphid midges will kill more aphids than they will actually eat.
A paper from Simon Fraser University shares that all flowers and herbs with pollen and/or nectar will attract aphid midges. It’s also noted that wild plants such as dandelion and wild carrot flowers will help support aphid midge populations.
eats: aphids, caterpillars, leafhoppers, asparagus beetle
attract with: goldenrod, sunflowers, wildflowers
Assassin Bugs are fantastic to have in your garden because they are generalist predators. UMD shares that they eat a wide variety of pests to offer a bigger scope of protection for your garden.
Assassin bugs include wheel bugs and the masked hunter bug. University of Wisconsin shows assassin bugs on yellow flowers such as sunflower, and UMD notes that they are attracted to goldenrod.
eats: aphids, beetles, caterpillars such as tomato hornworms and cabbageworms, squashbugs, stinkbugs, emerald ash borer
attract with: alyssum, flowering carrot, flowering brassicas, bean, sunflower, mint
The Xerces Society shares that Braconid wasps are parasites that will actually form as pupae attached to their host/prey.
They prefer flowering plants with easy to access nectar that isn’t too deep in the plant. Xerces notes that flowering carrot, bean, sunflower and mint all attract the Braconid species. University of Maryland also recommends that you let some brassica plants go to flower to attract Braconid wasps. Pacific Horticulture recommends one of the most commonly known attractant of this parasitic wasp is alyssum. Due to the braconid wasp feeding on the tomato hornworm, alyssum is often a companion plant for tomatoes and other nightshade family crops.
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eats: aphids, caterpillars, cabbage worms, potato beetles, spider mites, corn earworms, leaf hoppers, and other pests
attract with: clover, alfalfa, caraway, cosmos, fennel, mint, goldenrod, marigold, ground covers
University of Kentucky shares that cover crops like clover and alfalfa are a great way to attract beneficial damsel bugs into your garden.
Wisconsin Pollinators notes that they overwinter in these common winter cover crops. Even if you don’t plant cover crops, you can leave some debris like leaves and grass clippings around to support overwintering insects.
eats: mosquitoes, gnats, flies, and other small flying insects
attract with: asters, borage, milkweed, coneflowers, ironweed, and other tall plants.
I always delight in dragonflies, as I consider them to be a sign of a healthy ecosystem. Dragonflies are ancient insects that existed before dinosaurs, which is pretty incredible.
Treehugger interviewed John Abbott, a published author on the topic of dragonflies. He shared that while dragonflies will need a water source nearby (within a mile of your garden), they also need perches to land on. Anything that is tall in the landscape, such as a thriving borage plant, milkweed, or coneflowers, will give dragonflies a place to land. Maybe they’ll be still for just long enough for you to enjoy seeing them in your garden.
eats: slugs, aphids, caterpillars, cucumber beetle, potato beetle, weed seeds
attract with: beetle bumps, thyme, rosemary, mint, mulch, cover crops, red clover, white clover
As a gardener who lives in an area favored by slugs, I am so happy when I find a ground beetle in the garden. SDSU Extension notes that ground beetles also eat aphids, caterpillars, cucumber beetle and potato beetle.
The Kohala Center highlights thyme, rosemary, and mint to offer shelter for ground beetles. They also share that the regenerative technique of mulching and cover cropping can support their populations. eOrganic notes specific cover crops such as red clover and white clover can be planted in and around garden zones to act as a living mulch.
SARE outlines how ground beetles can be encouraged by a beetle bump or beetle bank. A beetle bank is an area of perennial grass that is not cut back. The beetle bank is located around the crop area. Beetles will overwinter in these areas and support the growth of their population.
eats: aphids, small caterpillars, thrips, corn borer, corn earworm
attract with: sweet alyssum, buckwheat, mustard, sage, salvia, lavender, oregano, thyme, marjoram, perilla, herbs with small flowers
According to the Kohala Center, fragrant plants with nectar and pollen will attract hoverflies into your garden.
Hoverflies are beneficial not only for pollination but also for aphid control in the garden. UWM shares that while a hoverfly larva is developing, it can eat up to 400 aphids in a 2-3 week period. They also eat other small pests such as thrips and corn earworm larvae.
eats: Tomato hornworms, boll weevils, wood borers
attract with: Flowering carrot family relatives and similar plants with flat clusters of small flowers: caraway, coriander, fennel, alyssum, dill
Missouri Dept of Conservation notes that Ichneumon Wasps will feed on grub and caterpillar hosts in while they are larvae. In most instances, this will kill the host animal.
The Permaculture Research Institute lists plants with flat clusters of small flowers as attractants to this beneficial wasp.
eats: aphids
attract with: Aster family (blanketflower, echinacea, coreopsis, cosmos, goldenrod, sunflower), buckwheat cover crops and strips, fragrant herbs with clusters of small flowers such as carrot, dill, fennel, corrainder
Every summer I have a small patch of 2-3 Queen Anne’s lace plants in my yard. Without fail, I am typically able to find ladybugs on these plants during the summer months.
PennState lists aster family flowers to bring ladybugs into your garden. A study from 2012 found that ladybugs were attracted to buckwheat strips around the crops
eats: aphids, thrips, mealybugs, whiteflies, mites
attract with: cilantro, dill, parsley, fennel, cosmos, sunflower, sweet alyssum
Lacewings are a beautiful delicate insect that are fascinating to watch flutter around the garden. A couple of summers ago we had a mealybug infestation in our native serviceberry trees. Every time I saw a lacewing, I thanked them for their service in supporting the serviceberry population. While the serviceberries did not produce that year, they recovered and were mostly unbothered by mealybugs the following year.
Tennessee State University lists flowering herbs and yellow and white flowers as attractive to lacewings. They also stress the importance of organic garden practices to bring these beneficial insects into the garden, as they are very sensitive to pesticides.
eats: cabbage loopers, cabbage butterfly, tomato hornworms,
attract with: goldenrod
I have a growing group of paper wasp guardians in my greenhouse. They started out with one small nest, right above the door to the greenhouse. I admit at first I was worried about their presence, but they never bothered me even though I open and close the greenhouse door frequently, which would disturb them since they were right above the door.
The next year, their nest grew in size. This year, they have formed multiple nests all around the interior of the greenhouse. Their numbers have increased, but their nature has remained docile towards me. I pay them my respects with a greeting every morning, and that seems to be enough to let them know that I appreciate their presence.
Like bees, paper wasps are also pollinators that help to increase harvest yield in the garden.
eats: flies, beetles, crickets, moths, grasshoppers
attract with: any flowers, bushes, or trees
According to UW Madison, praying mantises will sit still, waiting for their pray to get just close enough for the mantis to catch it. They can be hard to spot because they blend in so well with their surroundings.
UW Madison also notes that praying mantises will eat any insect, which means they can eat other beneficials such as bees.
I learned only from observation that praying mantises can fly! I saw what I thought was a huge brilliant white dragon fly fluttering around my yard, only to watch it land and morph into a praying mantis! I really enjoy when I spot them in my yard, and I always take time to observe their unique mannerisms.
eats: beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, cabbage looper
attract with: flowers with nectar, such as carrot flowers, dill, asters, rudbeckias
University of California’s Integrated Pest Management resource considers tachinid flies to be “the most important of the parasitic flies that provide biological control.”
UMD notes that flat composite flowers and plants in the aster family attract tachinid flies with their nectar.
Bee gardening plays a vital role in backyard sustainability. Both biodiversity and organic practices benefits not only the bees; it also provides a habitat for other beneficial insects.
This, in turn, enhances the ecosystem services of pollination and predation, and ultimately benefits your harvest.
To create a beneficial insect habitat, you can transform your lawn into a vibrant pollinator meadow. You can also be sure to plant cover crops and flowering herbs into your existing garden. Either way, these bee gardening strategies play a vital role in the health of the environment as a whole.
Learn more about bee gardening with our bee gardening guide,
or read up on natural pest control in the garden with our knowledge base.
